Rolf Undsæt Løvland (born 19 April 1955) is a Norwegian composer and lyricist. Together with Fionnuala Sherry, he formed the Celtic-Nordic group Secret Garden, in which he was the composer, producer, and keyboardist, he began composing at an early age (he formed a band at the age of nine) and grew up studying at the Kristiansand Music Conservatory, later receiving his master's degree from the Norwegian Institute of Music in Oslo. He is maybe most recognised for composing the song "You Raise Me Up", which, according to Rolf Løvland in an interview with Radio Norge in February 2010, has been covered more than 500 times thus far.

Four times winner of the Norwegian selection for the Eurovision Song Contest, the Melodi Grand Prix.

Barbra Streisand asked Ann Hampton Callaway to write lyrics to a Rolf Løvland melody which she entitled "I've Dreamed of You", and sang to James Brolin at their wedding. The song was later recorded on her CD, "A Love Like Ours", released as a single and selected for the album, The Essential Barbra Streisand. Streisand performed this song on her live double CD, Timeless.

1.
Kristiansand
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Kristiansand, historically Christiansand, is a city and municipality in Norway. It is the fifth largest city in Norway and the municipality is the sixth largest in Norway, varodd Bridge is a large bridge and a part of E18, which stretches over Topdalsfjorden. Tourism is important in Kristiansand, and the season is the most popular for tourists. Kristiansand Zoo and Amusement park is the largest zoo in Norway and it receives over 900,000 visitors every year. Markens Street is the pedestrian street in downtown Kristiansand. Bystranda is a city located in Kvadraturen, in addition. Hamresanden Camping is a family camp during the summer season. The city hosts a concert in downtown Kristiansand once every week in the summer. Outside the city is the industry park Sørlandsparken, which has Sørlandssenteret, the Kristiansand area has been inhabited since prehistoric times. In 1996, the skeleton of a woman dating to approximately 6500 BC was discovered in the neighboring municipality of Søgne. This demonstrates very early habitation of the archipelago, grauthelleren, located on Fidjane, is believed to be a Stone Age settlement. The first discovery in Norway of a Sarup enclosure was made in 2010 at Hamresanden, archaeological excavations to the east of Oddernes Church have uncovered rural settlements that existed during the centuries immediately before and after the start of the common era. Together with a discovery in Rogaland, these settlements are unique in the Norwegian context, isolated farms. One of the largest pre-Christian burial grounds in South Norway was formerly located to the south, a royal centre is thought to have existed at Oddernes before 800, and the church was built around 1040. Before the stone church was built, one or perhaps two wooden post churches are believed to have stood on the same spot and this means that the area must have had a large population before it was reduced by the Black Death. In the 14th and 15th centuries, there was already a busy port, in 1635, King Christian IV ordered his feudal seigneur, Palle Rosenkrantz, to move from Nedenes and build a royal palace on the island. Christian IV visited the location in 1630 and 1635, and on 5 July 1641 formally founded the town of Christianssand on the sand on the bank of the Torridalselva. The town was out in Renaissance style on a grid plan

2.
Norway
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The Antarctic Peter I Island and the sub-Antarctic Bouvet Island are dependent territories and thus not considered part of the Kingdom. Norway also lays claim to a section of Antarctica known as Queen Maud Land, until 1814, the kingdom included the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Iceland. It also included Isle of Man until 1266, Shetland and Orkney until 1468, Norway has a total area of 385,252 square kilometres and a population of 5,258,317. The country shares a long border with Sweden. Norway is bordered by Finland and Russia to the north-east, Norway has an extensive coastline, facing the North Atlantic Ocean and the Barents Sea. King Harald V of the Dano-German House of Glücksburg is the current King of Norway, erna Solberg became Prime Minister in 2013, replacing Jens Stoltenberg. A constitutional monarchy, Norway divides state power between the Parliament, the Cabinet and the Supreme Court, as determined by the 1814 Constitution, the kingdom is established as a merger of several petty kingdoms. By the traditional count from the year 872, the kingdom has existed continuously for 1,144 years, Norway has both administrative and political subdivisions on two levels, counties and municipalities. The Sámi people have an amount of self-determination and influence over traditional territories through the Sámi Parliament. Norway maintains close ties with the European Union and the United States, the country maintains a combination of market economy and a Nordic welfare model with universal health care and a comprehensive social security system. Norway has extensive reserves of petroleum, natural gas, minerals, lumber, seafood, the petroleum industry accounts for around a quarter of the countrys gross domestic product. On a per-capita basis, Norway is the worlds largest producer of oil, the country has the fourth-highest per capita income in the world on the World Bank and IMF lists. On the CIAs GDP per capita list which includes territories and some regions, from 2001 to 2006, and then again from 2009 to 2017, Norway had the highest Human Development Index ranking in the world. It also has the highest inequality-adjusted ranking, Norway ranks first on the World Happiness Report, the OECD Better Life Index, the Index of Public Integrity and the Democracy Index. Norway has two names, Noreg in Nynorsk and Norge in Bokmål. The name Norway comes from the Old English word Norðrveg mentioned in 880, meaning way or way leading to the north. In contrasting with suðrvegar southern way for Germany, and austrvegr eastern way for the Baltic, the Anglo-Saxon of Britain also referred to the kingdom of Norway in 880 as Norðmanna land. This was the area of Harald Fairhair, the first king of Norway, and because of him

3.
Bobbysocks!
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Bobbysocks. is a Norwegian pop duo consisting of Norwegian Hanne Krogh and Swedish-Norwegian Elisabeth Andreassen. They won the Eurovision Song Contest 1985 with the song La det swinge, the duo was formed in 1983. Both Krogh and Andreassen were frequent Eurovision contestants, Krogh has appeared three times, all for Norway - in 1971 as a soloist, with Bobbysocks. in 1985 and as part of Just 4 Fun in 1991. Andreassen sang for Sweden as one half of Chips in 1982 and after winning with Bobbysocks, teamed up with Jan Werner Danielsen in 1994, the duos debut single was I Dont Wanna Break My Heart, released in a pink colored vinyl. The concept behind Bobbysocks. was to bring up to date songs from the 1950s with a swing mood and that idea was fully applied on their first LP Bobbysocks. Which was a mixture of covers and brand new songs, the scheduled next single was going to be Radio, but the plans were changed when the duo won the Eurovision Song Contest. Let It Swing topped the Norwegian singles chart, as well as it did in Belgium and it was a Top 10 in Sweden and Ireland, and a Top 20 in The Netherlands and Austria. It entered the UK singles charts on 25 May 1985, and rose to a high of Nº44 and it was also pressed in countries such as Germany, Japan and Australia. There were plans to release the single in USA, but it didnt happen at the end, in 1985, due to their ESC victory, Bobbysocks. Were awarded the Peer Gynt Prize, which is awarded by the Stortinget, another ESC consequence was the re-release of the Bobbysocks. LP with Let It Swing on it, reaching the Gold status, Walkin on Air, was recorded in L. A. in 1987 and produced by Bill Maxwell. It went Gold in only 4 days, becoming their 3rd, in 1988, Bobbysocks disbanded, after 4 successful years. However, Krogh and Andreassen still appeared time to time together on stage in Norway and they appeared at Congratulations, the 50th anniversary Eurovision concert in Copenhagen, Denmark, in October 2005. During May 2010, Bobbysocks did a comeback to celebrate their 25th anniversary since their ESC victory in 1985. Which included 2 newly recorded songs and peaking at Nº13 on the Norwegian album charts, helping to gain new fans not only in Norway. 1986, Waiting for the Morning 1987, Walkin on Air 2010, Let it Swing - The Best of Bobbysocks

4.
Elisabeth Andreassen
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Elisabeth Gunilla Andreassen, also known as just Bettan, is a Swedish-Norwegian singer who has finished both first and second in the Eurovision Song Contest. Her talent was discovered in 1979 by Swedish musician and TV host Lasse Holm and she was produced by Bert Karlssons label Mariann Grammofon AB. In 1980, she joined Lasses group Chips, Chips participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 1982 with the song Dag efter dag, and reached 8th place. Andreassen is active in musical genres such as country, schlager. She is mostly famous from Eurovision Song Contest 1985 when she and Hanne Krogh participated as Bobbysocks with the song La det swinge, Andreassen has sung in various genres such as country, pop, rock and in musicals. She plays three instruments, guitar, piano and contrabass and she has also been a revue and musical artist. Bettan has a record as the woman with the most participations in the Eurovision Song Contest, tied with Lys Assia and Sue of Peter and she has participated four times, three times in duets and once on her own. Born on 28 March 1958 in Gothenburg, Sweden, to Norwegian parents and she lives in Ullern, Oslo in Norway with her two daughters, born in 1995 and 1997 respectively. Elisabeth and married Tor Andreassen on 2 July 1994 and before that Elisabeth was known as Elisabeth Andreasson, on 13 June 2016 Tor Andreassen died of a heart attack. Chips - God morgon, 2nd place 1982, Chips - Dag efter dag, 1st place 1984. Elisabeth Andreassen - Kärleksmagi, 6th place 1990, Elisabeth Andreassen - Jag ser en stjärna falla, 7th place 2000. Kikki, Bettan & Lotta - Vem é dé du vill ha, Elisabeth Andreassen - Vaken i en dröm 1985. Bobbysocks - La det swinge, 1st place 1992, Bettan & Jan Werner - Duett, 1st place 1996. Elisabeth Andreassen - I evighet, 1st place 1998, Elisabeth Andreassen - Winds of the Northern Sea, 2nd place 2003. Kikki, Bettan & Lotta - Din hånd i min hånd, Elisabeth Andreassen & Tor Endresen - All over the world, 4th place 1982. Chips - Dag efter dag, 8th place, Sweden 1985, Bobbysocks - La det swinge, 1st place, Norway 1994. Elisabeth Andreassen & Jan Werner Danielsen - Duett, 6th place, Norway 1996

5.
Secret Garden (duo)
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The group has sold over 3 million albums since having won the 1995 Eurovision Song Contest, representing Norway with the composition Nocturne. The group won the Eurovision Melody Grand Prix Contest for Norways second time in 1995 with the composition Nocturne. Norwegian singer Gunnhild Tvinnereim sang the song in the Eurovision Song Contest and Swedish nyckelharpist Åsa Jinder also guested on the occasion, ten years earlier, Rolf Løvland wrote the song La det swinge that secured Norway its first Eurovision Song Contest victory in 1985. Their success at Eurovision spearheaded the success of their first album Songs from a Secret Garden. It sold a million copies around the world going platinum in Norway and Korea, gold in Ireland, Hong Kong and New Zealand, barbra Streisand adapted Heartstrings from this album as the song Ive Dreamed of You on her A Love Like Ours album. She also used Heartstrings in her wedding to James Brolin, the album White Stones followed in 1997 also making the top ten on Billboard New Age charts. Secret Garden has released a Dreamcatcher, Best Of album for its tour through Australia and it reached the top of the Australian New Age charts and the ARIA top 50 album charts. Their piece Adagio, with a cor anglais solo, was used in the Wong Kar-wai film 2046 released in 2004, in 2010, Fionnuala Sherry released her solo debut entitled Songs From Before. Secret Garden published a written by Rolf Løvland with Fionnuala Sherry as co-writer entitled You Raise Me Up. The book tells their story from the inside - their triumphs as well as the trials and tribulations theyve endured along two decades

6.
Norwegians
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Norwegians are a Germanic ethnic group native to Norway. They share a culture and speak the Norwegian language. Towards the end of the 3rd millennium BC, Proto-Indo-European speaking Battle-Axe peoples migrated to Norway bringing domesticated horses, agriculture, cattle, during the Viking age, Harald Fairhair unified the Norse petty kingdoms after being victorious at the Battle of Hafrsfjord in the 880s. Two centuries of Viking expansion tapered off following the decline of Norse paganism with the adoption of Christianity in the 11th century, during The Black Death, approximately 60% of the population died and in 1397 Norway entered a union with Denmark. In 1814, following Denmark-Norways defeat in the Napoleonic Wars, Norway entered a union with Sweden, rising nationalism throughout the 19th century led to a 1905 referendum granting Norway independence. Although Norway remained officially neutral in World War I, the country was allied with the Entente powers. In World War II Norway proclaimed its neutrality, but was occupied for five years by Nazi Germany. In 1949, neutrality was abandoned and Norway became a member of NATO, discovery of oil and gas in adjacent waters in the late 1960s boosted Norways economic fortunes but in referenda held in 1972 and 1994, Norway rejected joining the EU. Key domestic issues include integration of a fast growing immigrant population, maintaining the countrys generous social safety net with an aging population, as with many of the people from European countries, Norwegians are spread throughout the world. There are more than 100,000 Norwegian citizens living abroad permanently, mostly in the U. S, Norwegian Vikings travelled north and west and founded vibrant communities in the Faroe Islands, Shetland, Orkney, Iceland, Ireland, Scotland, and northern England. They conducted extensive raids in Ireland and founded the cities of Cork, Dublin, in 947, a new wave of Norwegian Vikings appeared in England when Erik Bloodaxe captured York. Apart from Britain and Ireland, Norwegian Vikings established settlements in largely uninhabited regions, the first known permanent Norwegian settler in Iceland was Ingólfur Arnarson. In the year 874 he settled in Reykjavík, after his expulsion from Iceland Erik the Red discovered Greenland, a name he chose in hope of attracting Icelandic settlers. Viking settlements were established in the fjords of the southern and western coast. Eriks relative Leif Eriksson later discovered North America, during the 17th and 18th centuries, many Norwegians emigrated to the Netherlands, particularly Amsterdam. The Netherlands was the second most popular destination for Norwegian emigrants after Denmark, loosely estimated, some 10% of the population may have emigrated, in a period when the entire Norwegian population consisted of some 800,000 people. The Norwegians left with the Dutch trade ships that when in Norway traded for timber, hides, herring, young women took employment as maids in Amsterdam. Young men took employment as sailors, large parts of the Dutch merchant fleet and navy came to consist of Norwegians and Danes

7.
Fionnuala Sherry
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Fionnuala Sherry is an Irish violinist and vocalist. She makes up half of the New Instrumental duo Secret Garden, sherrys violin playing started at the age of eight. She graduated with honours from the College of Music of Trinity College and her professional career started with a ten-year stint as a member of the RTÉ Concert Orchestra. Sherry has collaborated with a range of musicians, including The Chieftains, Sinéad OConnor, Van Morrison, Chris de Burgh, Bono. She has also recorded several Hollywood film scores with the Irish Film Orchestra, including A Room with a View and her instrument of choice, for both live and studio work, is an English John Edward Betts violin from 1790, with a Hill bow. Sherry has written and presented a childrens television show on Irish national television. In 2010 She released a solo album Songs from Before in Ireland, the album is being released in the United States and Canada by Hearts of Space Records in the Spring of 2011. Sherry broke both her arms after tripping while walking in Dublin in February 2015 and she said it may have serious implications for her musical career, but she is confident of returning to full fitness

8.
Oslo
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Oslo is the capital and the most populous city in Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality, founded in the year 1040, and established as a kaupstad or trading place in 1048 by Harald Hardrada, the city was elevated to a bishopric in 1070 and a capital under Haakon V of Norway around 1300. Personal unions with Denmark from 1397 to 1523 and again from 1536 to 1814, after being destroyed by a fire in 1624, the city was moved closer to Akershus Fortress during the reign of Christian IV of Denmark and renamed Christiania in his honour. It was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838, following a spelling reform, it was known as Kristiania from 1877 to 1925, at which time its original Norwegian name was restored. Oslo is the economic and governmental centre of Norway, the city is also a hub of Norwegian trade, banking, industry and shipping. It is an important centre for industries and maritime trade in Europe. The city is home to companies within the maritime sector, some of which are among the worlds largest shipping companies, shipbrokers. Oslo is a city of the Council of Europe and the European Commission intercultural cities programme. Oslo is considered a city and ranked Beta World City in studies carried out by the Globalization and World Cities Study Group. It was ranked one in terms of quality of life among European large cities in the European Cities of the Future 2012 report by fDi magazine. A survey conducted by ECA International in 2011 placed Oslo as the second most expensive city in the world for living expenses after Tokyo. In 2013 Oslo tied with the Australian city of Melbourne as the fourth most expensive city in the world, as of January 1,2016, the municipality of Oslo has a population of 658,390, while the population of the citys urban area was 942,084. The metropolitan area had an population of 1.71 million. The population was during the early 2000 increasing at record rates and this growth stems for the most part from international immigration and related high birth rates, but also from intra-national migration. The immigrant population in the city is growing faster than the Norwegian population. As of January 1,2016, the municipality of Oslo has a population of 658,390, the urban area extends beyond the boundaries of the municipality into the surrounding county of Akershus, the total population of this agglomeration is 942,084. To the north and east, wide forested hills rise above the city giving the location the shape of a giant amphitheatre. The urban municipality of Oslo and county of Oslo are two parts of the entity, making Oslo the only city in Norway where two administrative levels are integrated

9.
You Raise Me Up
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You Raise Me Up is a song originally composed by Irish-Norwegian duo Secret Garden. The music was written by Secret Gardens Rolf Løvland and the lyrics by Brendan Graham, after the song was performed early in 2002 by the Secret Garden and their invited lead singer, Brian Kennedy, the song only became a minor UK hit. The song has been recorded by more than a hundred other artists including Josh Groban, the Irish band Westlife then popularized the song in the UK two years later. You Raise Me Up is sung as a hymn in church services. The song was written as an instrumental piece and titled Silent Story. Parts of the melody resemble the traditional Irish tune Londonderry Air, Løvland approached Irish novelist and songwriter Brendan Graham to write the lyrics to his melody after reading Grahams novels. The song was written by and for Løvland himself and performed for the very first time at the funeral of Løvlands mother, here he noted “theres something about the song people are embracing - which becomes emotionally strong. I believe people think of it as a song they use for their own stuff. ”. In 2002, it was released on the Secret Garden album Once in a Red Moon, with the vocals sung by Irish singer Brian Kennedy, and sold well in both Ireland and Norway. Originally, Brian Kennedy was supposed to follow Secret Garden on their Asian tour in 2002, but fell ill and he was replaced by Norwegian singer Jan Werner Danielsen, who also later recorded the song together with Secret Garden. A demo version of this recording was released in 2010, on Danielsens posthumous compilation album One More Time - The Very Best Of, which included several previously unpublished recordings. The song has found success as part of a three-song EP entitled George Best - A Tribute by Peter Corry and the songs original vocalist Brian Kennedy. In 2004, the song was played more than 500,000 times on American radio, in late 2005, there were over 80 versions available in USA alone, and it has been nominated for Gospel Music Awards four times, including Song of the Year. On 21 September 2006, You Raise Me Up became the first song to have sold over 76,000 copies of the score on the sheet music website musicnotes. com. In 2003, David Foster decided to produce the song after being introduced to it by Frank Petrone of peermusic and he chose the up-and-coming Josh Groban to record the song, which was accompanied by the tenor Craig Von Vennik of the Establishment. Grobans version made it to #1 on the Billboard adult contemporary chart in early 2004 and this version also peaked at #73 on the Billboard Hot 100, his first single to do so, and was nominated for a 2005 Grammy award. Groban performed the song at Super Bowl XXXVIII, in a special NASA commemoration for the crew of the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, a special surprise performance by Groban, for Oprah Winfreys 50th birthday, also gave You Raise Me Up massive international prominence. On April 25,2007, Groban also performed it at the first Idol Gives Back Concert and this version was released as a single and peaked at #76 on the Billboard Hot 100

10.
Radio Norge
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If you are looking for the military radio station with the same name, see Radio Norge. Radio Norge is a Norwegian radio station with headquarters in Bergen and it is subsidiary of Bauer Media AS. Radio Norge replaced Kanal 24 at noon on 21 April 2008 and they had previously had a campaign called Norge bestemmer, where they wanted the visitors opinion about what they wanted in the new station. The station focuses in playing the best hits from the last four decades along with popular pop hits. The first show ever on Radio Norge, was Lunsj with Annette Walter Numme, and producer Øystein Weibell which went on the air at noon, and was on the air for two hours. The Minister of Culture, Valgerd Svarstad Haugland announced the new station, P4 later received the license for the so-called FM5 network. Because of this, Kanal 24 took over the frequencies used previously by P4, while the latter got new, Kanal 24 had a rough start. Partially because P4 claiming the name Kanal 4 was too similar, the main investors in Kanal 24 where TV2, Fædrelandsvennen and Adresseavisen, who have since sold their shares. A. A. B Canal Royal Nyhetspuls 17 Sportspuls 18 Plankehytta Minipuls JÅNG Hei, Rune

11.
Eurovision Song Contest
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The competition was based upon the existing Sanremo Music Festival held in Italy since 1951. The contest has been broadcast every year for sixty years, since its inauguration in 1956 and it is also one of the most watched non-sporting events in the world, with audience figures having been quoted in recent years as anything between 100 million and 600 million internationally. Eurovision has also been broadcast outside Europe to several countries that do not compete, such as the United States, Canada, New Zealand, and China. An exception was made in 2015, when Australia was allowed to compete as a guest entrant as part of the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the event. In November 2015, the EBU announced that Australia was invited back as a participant in the 2016 contest after their success in 2015, following their success again in 2016, Australia will compete again in 2017. Since 2000, the contest has also been broadcast over the Internet via the Eurovision website, winning the Eurovision Song Contest provides a short-term boost to the winning artists career, but rarely results in long-term success. Notable exceptions are ABBA, Bucks Fizz and Céline Dion, all of whom launched successful careers after their wins. Ireland holds the record for the highest number of wins, having won the contest seven times—including four times in five years in 1992,1993,1994 and 1996. Under the current voting system, the highest scoring winner is Jamala of Ukraine who won the 2016 contest in Stockholm, under the previous system, in place from 1975 to 2015, the highest scoring winner is Alexander Rybak of Norway with 387 points in 2009. Satellite television did not exist, and the Eurovision Network comprised a terrestrial microwave network, the name Eurovision was first used in relation to the EBUs network by British journalist George Campey in the London Evening Standard in 1951. The first contest was held in the town of Lugano, Switzerland, seven countries participated—each submitting two songs, for a total of 14. This was the only contest in more than one song per country was performed, since 1957. The 1956 contest was won by the host nation, Switzerland, the programme was first known as the Eurovision Grand Prix. This Grand Prix name was adopted by Denmark, Norway and the Francophone countries, the Grand Prix has since been dropped and replaced with Concours in French, but not in Danish or Norwegian. The Eurovision network is used to carry news and sports programmes internationally. However, in the minds of the public, the name Eurovision is most closely associated with the Song Contest, a country as a participant is represented by one television broadcaster from that country, typically, but not always, that countrys national public broadcasting organisation. The programme is hosted by one of the participant countries, during this programme, after all the songs have been performed, the countries then proceed to cast votes for the other countries songs, nations are not allowed to vote for their own song. At the end of the programme, the song with the most points is declared as the winner, the programme is invariably opened by one or more presenters, welcoming viewers to the show

12.
La det swinge
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La det swinge is a song in Norwegian, sung by the pop duo Bobbysocks. It was the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 1985 – Norways first victory in the contest, the song is a tribute to dancing to old rock n roll heard on the radio. Befitting the subject matter, the song itself is written in an old-fashioned style, the melody arrangement is in retro style, containing elements of contemporary 1980s music and throwbacks to the 1950s. The song entered, and won Melodi Grand Prix 1985, and was selected to represent Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 1985. At the close of voting, it received 123 points, placing 1st in a field of 19 and this was Elisabeth Andreasson and Hanne Kroghs second appearance in the Eurovision Song Contest, in 1982 Elisabeth represented Sweden in the duo Chips with Kikki Danielsson singing Dag efter dag. Danielsson incidentally finished third after Bobbysocks and West Germanys Wind, with Bra vibrationer in the 1985 contest, again representing Sweden. Krogh finished 17th in the contest in 1971, with the song Lykken er, la Det Swinge was succeeded as Norwegian representative at the 1986 Contest by Ketil Stokkan with Romeo. Swedish heavy metal group Black Ingvars covered song on their 1998 album Schlager Metal

13.
Eurovision Song Contest 1985
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The Eurovision Song Contest 1985 was the 30th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It was held on 4 May 1985 in Gothenburg, Sweden, the presenter was entertainer Lill Lindfors, whose jokey dress rip after the interval act was said to have not amused the wife of EBU scrutineer Frank Naef. Were the winners with the song La det swinge, win for Norway was the countrys first. What do you think we are, after an energetic reprise, the two women embraced to a standing ovation from the audience. During the voting, it was not immediately evident that Norway would win the Contest, Germany took a commanding lead in the first half, with Norway fifth place behind Germany, Sweden, Italy and the United Kingdom around the end of the first half of voting. Finally, with five juries left, Germany, Sweden and Norway were tightly wrapped around the positions with 87,86. At that point, Sweden briefly took the lead away from Germany, Sweden was the fourth-to-last jury, conceding their brief lead by awarding Germany eight points and Norway the maximum twelve. With only three left to vote, Norway kept the lead, in one of the shortest winning stretches during voting in the contests history. The Netherlands and Yugoslavia did not participate in this Contest, due to the national Remembrance of the Dead in the Netherlands, despite this Yugoslavia did choose its song, Pokora, a duet sung by Zorica Kondža and Josip Genda. 1985 was also the year when no less than thirteen previous Eurovision artists made a comeback and this also applied to the winners, Bobbysocks. Who had attended once before as soloists, Hanne Krogh performed for Norway in 1971, while Elisabeth Andreassen for Sweden in 1982 in a duet, Chips, Kikki herself also returned this year for host country Sweden, and was thus competing against Elisabeth Andreassen and Bobbysocks. Lys Assia, the winner of the first ever Eurovision Song Contest in 1956, was the guest of honour of this edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. She was introduced by the presenter Lill Lindfors, the camera zoomed close to Lys, who rose to greet the audience, while the orchestra played the song Refrain, her winning song. Host conductor in bold Each country had a jury who awarded 12,10,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 point for their top ten songs. The voting itself was exciting, the German favourites looked to be cruising to an early victory, however both Sweden and Norway did their best to keep up and by the time the UK jury delivered their votes, Germany had seen its lead smashed. Lill Lindfors had a malfunction as she proceeded to the stage for the voting procedure. As she walked on stage, the skirt of her dress came away, leaving her in just her underwear and the top half of her dress. After a few seconds of pretending to be shocked, Lindfors unfastened the flaps of her dress across her shoulders, to reveal a white gown

14.
Eurovision Song Contest 1995
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The Eurovision Song Contest 1995 was the 40th Eurovision Song Contest and was held on 13 May 1995 in the Point Theatre in Dublin, Ireland. This years competition was the last with one host until 18 years later in 2013 in Malmö. This contest broke the chain of victories that Ireland enjoyed in 1992,1993 and this was Irelands 3rd year in succession to host the contest - and to mark the 40th show, it was opened with a 4-minute retrospective showing images from the contests history. The Norwegian group Secret Garden was the winner of this contest with the instrumental song. Incidentally, Secret Gardens violinist was Fionnuala Sherry, who is Irish and it was his birthday that night, but according to host Kennedy, He wouldnt say which one. Nonetheless, the audience sang Happy Birthday for him, assisted by the orchestra, after winning the 1994 contest, RTÉ were worried about whether they could afford to host a third consecutive contest in 1995. The BBC had offered to take on the responsibility of hosting the contest, in the end RTÉ decided to stage the contest on its own. However they did ask the EBU that, should Ireland win once more, the favourite to win the contest, according to bookmakers, was Sweden with the pop-ballad Se på mig. Other countries in contention for the win were Croatia, Denmark, Israel, Spain, the winning song was something new at Eurovision in that it contained only 24 words accompanied by long violin solos. The United Kingdom contributed a modern rap number, while the previous year’s runner-up, Poland, after the voting was completed, Norway was the winner with 148 points, followed by Spains Vuelve conmigo with 119 points, and Sweden gaining 100 points. The stage was designed by Alan Farquharson who also designed the set of the 1993 contest that took place in Millstreet, the interval act consisted of several well known Irish performers including Clannad, Brian Kennedy and was composed by leading musician Michael OSuilleabhan. The EBU decreased the number of back to 23 to make sure the show wouldnt last longer than 3 hours. 5 of the 6 countries that were relegated the year came back to the contest, Luxembourg decided to stop participating completely and Italy withdrew voluntarily. This rumour did, however inspire a popular episode of Father Ted, in any event, RTÉ ended up hosting the contest once again in 1997. Each country had a jury that awarded 12,10,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 point for their top ten songs. Below is a summary of all 12 points in the final, FR Yugoslavia After the breakup of Yugoslavia, third channel of Radio Television of Serbia broadcast the show, although Yugoslavia did not participate

15.
Shawnee, Oklahoma
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Shawnee is a city in Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 31,543 in 2014, a 4.9 percent increase from 28,692 at the 2000 census. The city is part of the Oklahoma City-Shawnee Combined Statistical Area, it is also the county seat of Pottawatomie County, with access to Interstate 40, Shawnee is about 45 minutes east of the attractions in downtown Oklahoma City. To the east and northeast, Shawnee is 112 miles from the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System which provides shipping access to the Gulf of Mexico. The area surrounding Shawnee was settled after the American Civil War by a number of tribes that the government had removed to Indian Territory. The Sac and Fox originally were deeded land in the area but were soon followed by the Kickapoo, Shawnee. Descendants of these federally recognized tribes continue to today in. With the cattle drives, railroads were constructed through the territory, in addition, white settlers pressed for more land, they were encroaching on territories previously reserved by treaty to Native Americans. In 1871 a Quaker mission was established here and that first missionary, Joseph Newsom, opened a school in 1872. By 1876 a post office and trading post had been established a mile west of the mission at what became known as Shawnee Town. Beginning in April 1889, the United States government succumbed to the pressure that had built to open the lands to white settlement. It was also making policy to encourage Native Americans to assimilate into the mainstream society, by allocating communal lands to individual households and extinguishing tribal land claims, Congress was preparing the territory for eventual statehood. The end of communal holdings was also intended to be the end of tribal government. The Dawes Act allocated the tribes communal lands into 160-acre plots to individual tribal members believing it would support a family farm, tribal members were registered with records known as the Dawes Rolls established for each tribe. The government declared that land in excess of what was allocated to member households was surplus. It allocated that surplus land through land runs, essentially races by which people staked claims on land, some tribes lost parts of their communal lands, disrupting traditional governments and practices. The first Land Run took place in the area of Oklahoma Territory in 1889 known as the Unassigned Land. Then in the Land Run of 1891 onto surplus land of the Sac & Fox, Citizen Pottawatomie and Shawnee, four settlers each staked a quarter section in the proposed city of Brockway

16.
Spellemannprisen
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Spellemannprisen, often referred to as the Norwegian Grammy Awards in English, is a Norwegian music award presented to Norwegian musicians. The award was established by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, first awarded in 1973, the prize honours musicians from the previous year, it is still awarded annually. The Spellemann committee, composed of members of IFPI Norway and FONO, manages the award, twenty-one categories are currently awarded and the committee may award additional honorary and industry awards. The awards are held in January or February. Spellemannprisen is often dubbed as the Norwegian Grammy Awards, separate juries convene for each category. Members are confidential from both the public and the other juries. The juries score each nominee separately, then convene to deliberate until there is a winner, usually, three nominees are presented to the jury. The Spellemanns committee nominates three categories, Newcomer of the Year, Fiddler of the Year and Hit Artist, a nomination jury nominates the rest of the videos, which are then presented to the juries. Starting in 2007, the winner of the Newcomer of the Year Award takes home a prize on 200000 kroner, the scholarship is awarded by Gramo, a Norwegian music industry funding agency. As of 2014, sixteen artists have won the more than five times. Leif Ove Andsnes has the most wins with 10 awards, yet no one has won more than one award in a single year, in 2011, the live award show returned to NRK for the first time since 2001, and remained on the same channel afterwards. From 2002 to 2010, the show was broadcast on TV2

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Melodi Grand Prix
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Melodi Grand Prix, sometimes as Norwegian Melodi Grand Prix, commonly known as Grand Prix and MGP, is an annual music competition organised by Norwegian public broadcaster Norsk Rikskringkasting. It determines the countrys representative for the Eurovision Song Contest, and has been staged almost every year since 1960, the festival has produced three Eurovision winners and nine top-five placings for Norway at the contest. However, Norway holds the record for the number of entries who have come last since entering Eurovision,11 in all. Despite this, the still makes considerable impact on music charts in Norway. The Eurovision Song Contest began on 24 May 1956, when the Grand Prix Eurovision de la Chanson Européenne was held in Lugano, Norways first contest was the fourth, the 1960 Contest. The first Melodi Grand Prix was held on 20 February at the NRK Television Centre in Oslo, ten songs competed in the radio semi-final, held on 2 February, where the top 5 songs would progress to the televised contest. However this number was increased to 6 after three songs tied for fourth place, the winner of the televised contest was Voi Voi, performed by Nora Brockstedt. Brockstedt performed Norways first Eurovision entry at London on 29 March, Brockstedt also went on to win the following years contest as well with Sommer i Palma. Melodi Grand Prix has failed to be staged on three previous occasions, in 1970 Norway was absent from the contest because of a Nordic boycott of the voting system, which had led to a four-way tie for first place at the 1969 contest. In 1991 no Melodi Grand Prix was held as NRK felt that the entries received for the Contest were of too low quality. The final instance of no Melodi Grand Prix was in 2002, all winners of MGP have gone on to represent Norway at the Eurovision Song Contest. Norway has won it three times, in 1985,1995 and 2009, however Norway has also come last 11 times, more than any other nation, in 1963,1969,1974,1976,1978,1981,1990,1997,2001,2004 and 2012

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Barbra Streisand
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Barbara Joan Barbra Streisand is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and filmmaker. She is among a group of entertainers who have been honored with an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Award. Streisand is one of the music artists of all time, with more than 68.5 million albums in the United States. She starred in the critically acclaimed Funny Girl, for which she won the Academy Award, with the release of Yentl in 1983, Streisand became the first woman to write, produce, direct, and star in a major studio film. The film won an Oscar for Best Score and a Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture Musical, Streisand received the Golden Globe Award for Best Director, the first woman to win that award. The RIAA and Billboard recognize Streisand as holding the record for the most top 10 albums of any recording artist. According to Billboard, Streisand holds the record for the female with the most number one albums, Billboard also recognizes Streisand as the greatest female of all time on its Billboard 200 chart and one of the greatest artists of all time on its Hot 100 chart. Barbara Joan Streisand was born on April 24,1942, in Brooklyn, New York and her mother had been a soprano singer in her youth and considered a career in music, but later became a school secretary. Her father was a school teacher at the same school. Streisands family was Jewish, her grandparents emigrated from Galicia and her maternal grandparents from the Russian Empire. Her father earned a degree from City College of New York in 1928 and was considered athletic. As a student, he spent his summers outdoors, once working as a lifeguard, hed try anything, his sister Molly said. He married Ida in 1930, two years after graduating, and became a respected educator with a focus on helping underprivileged. In August 1943, a few months after Streisands first birthday, her father died suddenly at age 34 from complications from an epileptic seizure, the family fell into near-poverty, with her mother working as a low-paid bookkeeper. As an adult, Streisand remembered those early years as always feeling like an outcast, explaining and her mother tried to pay their bills but could not give her daughter the attention she craved, When I wanted love from my mother, she gave me food, Streisand says. Streisand recalls that her mother had a voice and sang semi-professionally on occasion. During a visit to the Catskills when Streisand was thirteen, she told Rosie ODonnell, she and that session was the first time Streisand ever asserted herself as an artist, which also became her first moment of inspiration as an artist. She has a brother, Sheldon, and a half-sister

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Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest 1957
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The Netherlands were represented in the Eurovision Song Contest 1957 by Corry Brokken with the song Net als toen written by Guus Jansen and Willy van Hemert. The Dutch entry was chosen during a final called Nationaal Songfestival. Like in the year, a national final titled National Songfestival was held with eight songs competing. Four singers took part in the selection, each of them presenting two songs, Corry Brokken was the only singer from the 1956 national final who tried again. The winner was chosen by postcard voting, however, this time. Again, the show was hosted by Karin Kraaykamp, Corry Brokken, who was already one of the two Dutch representatives in the 1956 Eurovision Song Contest, was the clear winner of the national final, as her entries finished first and second. Marcel Thielemans finished third and fourth, but far behind her, the winning song was Net als toen and would be the third Dutch entry in the Eurovision Song Contest. “Net als toen” was released on an EP by Corry Brokken with the title “Grand Prix 1957 Eurovision”, the entry itself did not reach the Dutch single charts and was also not an international hit although it would win the Eurovision Song Contest. Brokken has also recorded a German version and a French version of the song, none of the other songs in the national final made any commercial impact. At the Eurovision Song Contest in Frankfurt, the Dutch entry was performed sixth on the night following Austria with “Wohin, kleines Pony. ” and preceding Germany with “Telefon, Corry Brokken was backed by violinist Sem Nijveen, who had a remarkable long solo part. The Netherlands won the Eurovision Song Contest, at the close of voting, the Dutch entry had received 31 points and at least one point from every other country. It would be the clearest victory ever in voting system as they got 31% of all votes and 34. 4% of the votes possible to be received. The Netherlands would be the country to win the contest on its second attempt until Ukraine did so in 2004. Every country had a jury of ten people, every jury member could give one point to his or her favourite song. Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest Eurovision Song Contest 1957 Eurovision Song Contest delootsbod. dk Information about the national final

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Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest
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Israel has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 39 times since making its debut in 1973. Israel is able to enter the contest as a Israel Broadcasting Authority member organisation of the European Broadcasting Union, Israel has won the contest three times. Israels first appearance at the contest in 1973 was successful, with Ilanit finishing fourth, Israel then achieved back to back victories in 1978 and 1979, with wins for Izhar Cohen and the Alphabeta, with the song A-Ba-Ni-Bi and Gali Atari and Milk and Honey, with Hallelujah. The countrys best results in the 1980s were the second-place finishes for Avi Toledano in 1982, former winner Izhar Cohen returned to place fifth in 1985. Duo Datz finished third in 1991, before Israel achieved its third victory in 1998, with Dana International, Eden then finished fifth in 1999. Israel has hosted the contest twice, in 1979 and 1999, in 1980, the IBA declined to host the contest for a second successive year for financial reasons. Instead the contest was held in The Hague, as the date set for the 1980 contest conflicted with Yom Hazikaron – Israeli Memorial Day – Israel did not participate. This is the time that the winning country did not compete the following year. As of 2014, Israel has the record for most participations in the contest without ever coming last, since the Introduction of the semi-finals in 2004, Israel has failed to reach the final six times. In 2014, the failed to qualify for the fourth consecutive year. In 2015, Israel reached the final for the first time in five years, the only Israeli entrant to achieve a better result in the 21st century is Shiri Maimon in 2005, who gave the country its tenth top five result in the contest, finishing fourth. To date there have been three Israeli victories in the contest, Izhar Cohen and Alphabeta won in Paris in 1978 with the uptempo A-Ba-Ni-Bi. On home ground in Jerusalem the following year, Israel won again, unusually, Israel did not defend the title in 1980. The third victory came almost 20 years later in Birmingham in 1998, singer Dana International took top honours with the song Diva, setting off widespread celebrations in Israel. Israels earliest selections were picked by the Israel Broadcasting Authority, the first singer to represent the country in 1973 was Ilanit, who finished 4th. Criticism increased after she was sent again four years later, leading to a rule that the winner of the already established Hebrew Song, the Eurovision Song Contest winners of 1978 and 1979 were selected by this method. From 1981 the selection process was handled by the Kdam Eurovision with the exceptions of 1990,1998,1999,2000, 2002–2004, 2006–2007 and 2010 where the selections were again picked by the IBA. The winner of the 1980 Hebrew Song and Chorus Festival, a band called The Brothers & the Sisters with the song Pizmon Chozer, after winning the contest in 1978 and 1979, the IBA was financially and logistically unable to organise the event for the second consecutive year

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Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1980
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Ireland entered the Eurovision Song Contest 1980, sending Johnny Logan to the contest with the song Whats Another Year, written by Shay Healy. The Irish national final to select the Irish representative for the Eurovision Song Contest 1980, was held on 9 March 1980 at the RTÉ Studios in Dublin and was hosted by Larry Gogan and it was organised by the Irish broadcaster of the contest Radio Telefís Éireann. Eight songs were performed live to the Irish viewers and listeners, the winner went on to win the Eurovision Song Contest in The Hague, which gave Ireland its second victory, ten years after its first. A=Longford, B=Kenmare, C=Claremorris, D=Cork, E=Sligo, F=Wexford, G=Donegal, H=Limerick, I=Dublin, J=Thurles The Eurovision Song Contest 1980 was held at the Congresgebouw in The Hague, Ireland performed 17th on the night of the contest, following France and preceding Spain. Logan received 143 points for his performance, winning the contest for Ireland, Eurovision Song Contest 1980 Irish National Final 1980 page